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A new experience 1004

Today I got to experience something I never thought would happen to me. I was with my son and another family on a train ride on a museum railroad, when the carriage we where in derailed. Luckily the speed was low, so noone was hurt. But stuff and people got thrown around in their seats a bit but the carriage did not tip over. It did tilt so much though that my soda bottle just slid of the table if you tried to put it there. We evacuated the train on fot and walked about half a kilometer to the nearest road, where busses came to pic us up after about 1,5 hours. (We where about 20km from the nearest town)

This made me think about just how prepeared I actually was, if it had not turned out that well. I had about 1,5 liters of water/soda, 4 wasa sandwich snack packs, thin raincoats for me and my son, battery pack for my phone and some bandaids in my backpack. Also I had a wenger soldier 70, a vic manager, a swisstech tool and a CRKT Kert in my pockets, in adition to a notepad, pencil and pen.

All in all that was not too bad. But I think I was under equipped in some ways. A First aid kit could have been a lifesaver if things had gone south. Also I had no way to make a fire, and lacked a tool with a good saw on me. (The train had an awesome emergensy tool kit though. See pic below) A lighter and a first aid kit will be added to my backpack. Also I might have to start carrying a farmer or similar tool when I know ill be travelling by train or bus in thinly populated areas.

Below is a pic of the carriage. You cant see it but the weels on this side are on the inside of the track. I think the carriage would have tipped over if the speed had been high.

Not yet. The carriage was over 100 years old, so it might have been a mechanical failure. Or maybe problems with the track wich is from the 1870s. There will be an incident investigation by the authorithies though.

You just never know. Glad you and your son were unhurt as hopefully no one was. The struggle is how prepared should we be? I tend to have a decent 1st aid kit when leaving the house as well have water and snacks. I carry 2 lights and back up battery for my cell. All items are easily stowed with a small bag. I used to have gloves in there and now that I think about it I will put them back in. In no way is this a BOB or anything like that. I just don't want to have nothing or carry everything in my pockets.

Glad to see everyone was ok.As for being ready I think you were well off. Don't worry about fire, just yell Thor a bunch of times and a lightning will help you out. As for first aid, no matter what you have, it is never enough.

Solving problems you didn't know you had in the most obscure way possible

"And now, it's time to hand this over to our tame race axe driver. Some say, he can live in the forest for six months at a time without food, and he knows of a secret tribe of only women where he is their God. All we know is, he's call the Styx!" - TazzieRob

Glad to see everyone was ok.As for being ready I think you were well off. Don't worry about fire, just yell Thor a bunch of times and a lightning will help you out. As for first aid, no matter what you have, it is never enough.

Glad you and your son are safe and no one was seriously injured. Thanks for sharing, especially your thoughts about preparedness gear. Here in the Philippines the capital is due for a major quake so disaster preparedness is a hot topic around the capital

Glad your son and yourself (and everyone else) are all ok. I think you were pretty well prepared, you were on a day out with your son and while being prepared is part of who/what we are, you can only carry so much. In the event of a serious injury, you had the tools on you to fashion bandages etc. I think the only reasonable addition to what you had is a small first aid kit ?

as an aside, the CRKT Kert looks interesting, depending on your opinion of it there could be one in my future.

Man, that must have been terrifying after the fact as I am sure it probably happened very quickly to worry about it during the event. Very happy to hear no one got injured. As far as the first aid kit, a small portable one would have helped your son and you, however, in a major accident, it wouldn't be enough.

Glad to see everyone was ok.As for being ready I think you were well off. Don't worry about fire, just yell Thor a bunch of times and a lightning will help you out. As for first aid, no matter what you have, it is never enough.

Shhhhh! You must not reveal the secret firemaking trick to everyone

It only works for you norsemen anyway. Maybe if I were to get a carbon steel Mjolnir pendant that could also be used as a firesteel scraper, the steel component in a flint and steel and a bearing block for bowdrill fires :think

Solving problems you didn't know you had in the most obscure way possible

"And now, it's time to hand this over to our tame race axe driver. Some say, he can live in the forest for six months at a time without food, and he knows of a secret tribe of only women where he is their God. All we know is, he's call the Styx!" - TazzieRob

Glad your son and yourself (and everyone else) are all ok. I think you were pretty well prepared, you were on a day out with your son and while being prepared is part of who/what we are, you can only carry so much. In the event of a serious injury, you had the tools on you to fashion bandages etc. I think the only reasonable addition to what you had is a small first aid kit ?

as an aside, the CRKT Kert looks interesting, depending on your opinion of it there could be one in my future.

The KERT is a nice backup tool on the keychain. I have used the flat driver a lot for scraping stuff. The bottle opener isnt that great, but works in a pinch. The seatbelt cutter I have used a lot for cutting string, packet bands and so on when I havent had a knife with me. The wrench holes i havent had any use for.

Man, that must have been terrifying after the fact as I am sure it probably happened very quickly to worry about it during the event. Very happy to hear no one got injured. As far as the first aid kit, a small portable one would have helped your son and you, however, in a major accident, it wouldn't be enough.

Glad to see everyone was ok.As for being ready I think you were well off. Don't worry about fire, just yell Thor a bunch of times and a lightning will help you out. As for first aid, no matter what you have, it is never enough.

Shhhhh! You must not reveal the secret firemaking trick to everyone

It only works for you norsemen anyway. Maybe if I were to get a carbon steel Mjolnir pendant that could also be used as a firesteel scraper, the steel component in a flint and steel and a bearing block for bowdrill fires :think

The important thing is that you are all ok- being shaken like that can be very distressing, even if no one was hurt. Good on you for thinking "next step" and then "how can this be better handled next time?"

Of course, I speak for all of us when I say I really hope there isn't a next time.

It is a bit concerning that you had no recourse but to hike through the woods to get to a bus- these kinds of things (at least around here) are often populated by elderly folks, and I would hate to think of some of my elderly relatives having to take an impromptu hike through the woods. I realize that these kinds of things happen, but I know I would be pretty worried.

I second Chako's concerns about a small first aid kit being perhaps on the complete wrong scale for a train derailment, although I suppose having something would be better than having nothing. I'm just not sure what kind of pocket first aid kit you could carry that could help in a train derailment type accident, as those kinds of injuries are usually a bit beyond a band aid and some Polysporin.

A good set of mechanic's type work gloves would go a long way to helping in just about any situation though- I am a big fan of them, and I use mine for everything. Plus they are inexpensive (usually between $5-15 depending on what store/type of gloves) and take up virtually no space.

Again, I am glad that you guys, and everyone else on the train are ok. It's amazing how much crap can happen, whether you are prepared or not.